Dear Friends and Neighbors,
As of 12:30 p.m. today, the fire at SPS Technologies remains active but is contained and investigations are ongoing.
Emergency personnel have worked through the night and will continue to work to ensure public safety. The shelter-in-place and evacuation recommendations remain lifted at this time. Today, fire operations will shift to address the most immediate fire hot spots within the building. In order for fire suppression equipment to reach these locations, some demolition of the building will take place. Demolition will be carefully coordinated and overseen by all agencies, engineers, and responders on site. This is a necessary step to extinguish the fire.
Highland Avenue in the area of SPS will be closed for the foreseeable future. A full list of road closures and detours is available here.
It cannot be emphasized enough that there is absolutely no trespassing on the site. This will be strictly enforced. All trespassers create a safety risk for both emergency responders and the public. Sections of the SPS technologies building are structurally compromised, and it is an active emergency scene as operations continue to unfold.
If you have debris on your property, please avoid touching it and call 9-1-1 to report it. This will help officials create a record of affected residents. After reporting, officials will come to identify and catalog the debris to determine if it will be needed for investigative purposes. This could take some time due to the ongoing investigation, and the debris may not be immediately removed. The United States Environmental Protection Agency and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection are assisting local officials in these clean-up efforts, and the Jenkintown Fire Department is working with an environmental contractor.
The EPA also continues to monitor air quality. Based on the data collected, the monitoring equipment has not detected levels of contaminants of public concern. Additional air monitoring equipment has been placed on site and around the area by third-party environmental consultants.
The DEP and the Philadelphia Water Department conducted an initial sampling of the Tookany Creek on Tuesday; low levels of chemicals of concern were found in the creek immediately downstream of the fire at that time. There are no drinking water intakes from Tookany Creek downstream of the fire.
DEP resampled the creek on Wednesday and the results of those tests are not yet available. Testing will be ongoing for as long as needed. Samples taken from the Delaware River did not detect any chemicals of concern. The DEP has published their website regarding this incident which contains additional air and water quality information at https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dep/about-dep/regional-office-locations/southeast-regional-office/southeast-community-information/sps-technologies.html.
According to Aqua, drinking water supplies are not at risk. Aqua, Pennsylvania, the water provider in Abington, Jenkintown and Cheltenham has provided the following statement regarding drinking water:
“Aqua Pennsylvania is monitoring the situation in Abington Township, Montgomery County as investigators respond to the fire at SPS Technologies. Aqua responded to the scene late Monday night and concluded that there is currently no risk to drinking water in the surrounding area. We will continue to monitor the situation and will alert customers of any drinking water quality concerns. Customers should continue to check our website for updates. Aqua’s systems performed as designed to support the enormous water flow needed as fire companies responded to the blaze. Due to the firefighting effort, some customers in the area may experience lower than normal water pressure. We thank the first responders for braving frigid conditions as they worked to control this situation.”
Any further updates can be found on Abington Township’s dedicated webpage at www.abingtonpa.gov/SPSupdates. All levels of government are working together to stay as informed as possible so that we can ensure that as many affected residents can get the best information possible. Thank you to everyone for your patience.
Please sign up for notifications about emergencies, disasters, and community information through Ready Montco Alert System at readymontco.org.